Taiwan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped in 2015. That’s the first drop recorded since 2009.
The statistics office said Wednesday that the CPI rose by 0.14% in December but dropped by 0.31 on average for 2015. The statistics office says the drops in 2009 and 2015 were mainly caused by falling fuel prices. However, 2015 saw a larger drop in CPI while seeing a better economy than 2009.
Head of the statistics office, Tsai Yu-tai, said Wednesday that the core CPI, which doesn’t take into account highly volatile energy and food prices, has actually risen by 0.79%. Tsai said that there is no worry of deflation.
“We are still leaning towards observing the core CPI, which has been steady throughout the four quarters last year," said Tsai. "In our opinion, commodity prices are changing steadily and mildly.”
The statistics office also said the CPI won’t rise much in 2016 considering the economic outlook and consumer demand.